29th December, 2016
Prominent Turkish author, journalist and government critic Ahmet Sik has been arrested in Istanbul, according to reports.
“I have been arrested,” adding that one of his earlier tweets on tweeter seemed responsible for drawing the attention of the state prosecutor.
There was no further information about the arrest.
Since a mid-July coup attempt, Turkish authorities have come down hard against critics of the government of Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
The investigative journalist has for years strongly criticized the movement led by exiled Islamic cleric Fethullah Gulen, which Erdogan has blamed for the failed July 15 coup.
Sik has also attacked the ruling AKP party for supporting Gulen until a rift between Gulen and Erdogan became public in 2013.
Prior to that break, Sik spent nearly a year in detention in 2011 for the Imam’s Army, his book about the Gulen movement which was banned from publication.
“To discuss the Gulen movement while at the same time ignoring the AKP’s complicity in it is a huge omission.
Earlier this year “Gulen and Erdogan should both be tried in court for their hand in the organization,” Sik said.